A Rare Wrist Injury: Simultaneous Fractures of the Hamate Body and Scaphoid Waist

Drs Yalcinkaya, Azar, and Dogan are from Istanbul Education and Research Hospital, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Istanbul, Turkey.Drs Yalcinkaya, Azar, and Dogan have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid

Abstract

abstractFull article available online at OrthoSuperSite.com/view.asp?rID=41930Hamate fractures, which are classified as fractures of the body or the hook, are rare, representing only 2% to 4% of carpal fractures. Hamate body fractures can occur as isolated injuries, but in a high-energy trauma, associated carpal bone fractures or carpal disruption can be seen. Hamate fractures can be easily underdiagnosed. Pain in the ulnar side of the palm and swelling of the wrist after a wrist injury should alert the physician. Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the wrist may not always be adequate for the diagnosis. Computed tomography should be used to explain the pain in the wrist and to investigate any associating osseous pathologies. This article describes a case of a rare wrist injury: a fracture of the hamate body and a simultaneous fracture of the scaphoid waist treated nonoperatively. To our knowledge, there is only 1 case report in the literature in which the fracture of the hamate body accompanies the fracture of the distal pole of the scaphoid.